Dropping out of Gear at speed

LAMudbug

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Nov 5, 2009
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I have 150 hp 89 super commercial Evinrude. Finally got to river yesterday to test it out properly. It sat up for a little while and has a few kinks to work out. Have done a decarb today and changed plugs for starters and this helped the excess smoke, but the problem that I have to figure out is after about 5 min at about 3500 to 4500 rpm it seems to drop out of gear, the engine is still throttled up but the prop disengages, what are some possible causes of this. Thanks in advance for any advice
 

LAMudbug

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Re: Dropping out of Gear at speed

Also it seemed like the longer we ran it the less often this would happen.
 

bktheking

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Re: Dropping out of Gear at speed

I have 150 hp 89 super commercial Evinrude. Finally got to river yesterday to test it out properly. It sat up for a little while and has a few kinks to work out. Have done a decarb today and changed plugs for starters and this helped the excess smoke, but the problem that I have to figure out is after about 5 min at about 3500 to 4500 rpm it seems to drop out of gear, the engine is still throttled up but the prop disengages, what are some possible causes of this. Thanks in advance for any advice

Cable adjustment or clutch dog wore out, have you drained the lower unit to look for metal filings?
 

Knightgang

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Oct 6, 2003
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1,428
Re: Dropping out of Gear at speed

You said it sat up for quite a while. Was the Gear Oil changed in the Lower unit? My guess (and it is just a guess) is that IF the LU oil was not changed, then there may have been water in it and some rust or other sludge may be hindering the gears from engaging fully. The more you run it, the more the gears are breaking up this sludge and rust. Change the LU oil and replace it with fresh. Watch the drainage, it could give you an indication of why this is happening...
 

LAMudbug

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Nov 5, 2009
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Re: Dropping out of Gear at speed

Ok thanks I havnt drained it yet but will definatly take care of that in the morning.
 

LAMudbug

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Nov 5, 2009
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Re: Dropping out of Gear at speed

Ok drained the lower unit didnt find any chunks but did have some shavings on the magnet. The oil didnt have any water standing in it but it was a dark grey color probably just really old and dirty dont know if that would class as milky or not. It didnt seem to be thin. Didnt find any chunks in the oil either.
 

tashasdaddy

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Re: Dropping out of Gear at speed

it would look like coffee with cream, or chocolate milk shake if it had water in it.
 

LAMudbug

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Nov 5, 2009
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Re: Dropping out of Gear at speed

Alright put new gear oil done a few cable adjustments and took it out again. It seemed to do much better run it for about two hours and only lost power once. It was also not wanting to go into reverse the other day either but after adjusting the cable that problem was solved also. As for the oil I would not say it looked like coffee with cream or milkshake. More like thin oily neverseize. Just a dark grey color. Now that I know it has good oil in it I will run it a few times before winter sets in winterize it do a little more work on a few other problems and next spring after we take it out a couple of times ill change the oil again and probably go ahead and change the pump impeller since I dont know when that was done last and see what condition the fresh oil is in then I will know if it is getting water or not. Like I said I dont have any idea how long the other oil had been in service.
 
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